The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

V. E. Schwab (Author), Julia Whelan (Narrator), Macmillan Audio (Publisher)

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2020 NYPL Best Books of the Year
2020 Oprah.com Best Books of the Year
2020 NPR Best Book of the Year
2020 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year
2020 Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
2021 Locus Awards - Nominee
2020 Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year

"[Narrator Julia] Whelan's performance is unforgettable in this darkly romantic fantasy about one young woman cursed always to be forgotten.... Her depiction of the darkness is smooth with a low cadence, capturing listeners' attention and their heart strings." (Booklist)

In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times best-selling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.

A life no one will remember. A story you will never forget.

France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever - and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER
USA TODAY BEST SELLER
NATIONAL INDIE BEST SELLER
THE WASHINGTON POST BEST SELLER

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

"This epic story, spanning three centuries and two continents, is expertly narrated by Julia Whelan.... This is a transporting listen, and these characters will stick with you for a long time." (Bookpage, starred review)

Listening Length

17 hours and 10 minutes
Author

V. E. Schwab
Narrator

Julia Whelan
Audible release date

Oct. 6 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Macmillan Audio
ASIN

B0844QW6P5
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	17 hours and 10 minutes
Author	V. E. Schwab
Narrator	Julia Whelan
Audible.ca Release Date	October 06 2020
Publisher	Macmillan Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0844QW6P5
Best Sellers Rank	#181 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #1 in Historical Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) #5 in Historical Fantasy (Books) #28 in Epic Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)

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Top reviews from Canada

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Laurie ‘The Baking Bookworm’

Cool premise but falls short in emotion

Reviewed in Canada on January 8, 2021

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The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is the belle of the book nerd ball. Everyone was scampering to get their hands on a copy, and I was one of them. This was an atmospheric, character-driven read with a slower pace that has a fantastical feel about a woman who makes a deal with the devil only to learn that you have to be careful what you wish for.

I loved the concept, but I set my expectations too high based on its rave reviews. Since the book had over 16k reviews - most of them being 4 and 5 stars - I expected to be totally enamored with this story and I kind of was, but I kind of wasn't.

Schwab's writing had a lyrical feel, and she had an interesting premise that slowly built over the first half and then whacks readers over the head with a good twist. I loved it! But then the story falters and d-r-a-g-s in the second half as we go over and over the fact that A) people will soon forget Addie, B) she has seven star freckles on her face (I'm still not sure of their relevance) and C) Luc will visit her on the anniversary of her curse. We meander through the mundane issues of her daily life as she adapts to new eras/people and while I wouldn't say the story was dull, it never fully caught my attention either. The story is about Addie, but I never got to know her and I felt like I was on the periphery of the story and emotion. I also didn't buy the romance Schwab was selling. We're told there's romance, but it felt forced and lacked passion. There was a whole lot more emotional zing to the other relationship in the story.

Schwab's languid approach to writing is filled with good descriptions of the different eras, but Addie remains emotionally elusive to the people around her and to the reader. A unique premise but with its overly drawn-out plot, this was just an okay read for me.

20 people found this helpful

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Don’t waste your time

Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2021

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This is the book that wouldn’t end. It’s not that it’s bad but it’s not great. The author has a truly irritating fixation on the word palimpsest...I get it. We all find words we’re fascinated with but she’s used it at least half a dozen times throughout the book. It’s heavy handed. An no, not everything can be likened to a palimpsest. We get it. The character Addie has hidden layers and is profoundly sad and deep. Except she’s not. She’s barely two-dimensional and I can’t say I feel at all connected to Henry. It’s two shallow people who have crossed time to be together. How profound.

14 people found this helpful

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Shannon Whitwell

Absolutely fell in love with this book!

Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2021

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I am in love with this book. Addie is such a fierce and resilient character that you cannot help but fall in love with. She has lived for 300 years without any human connection because no one can remember her once they look away. She has no place to call home and lives as a drifter, fighting to survive every day and still trying to make her life have meaning even if she’s the only one who remembers.

This is a story about love and loss and trying to make your life have meaning even when the odds are stacked against you. I would have given in so soon if I was in Addie’s position, I don’t think I could have survived the way she did. She had to fight every day, over and over again just to feel human. I think I would have enjoyed all that time to read, think of the number of books you could read in 300 years. 😆

8 people found this helpful

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Scuffed Granny

Making a deal with a devil can mean an exciting life but what if you have no-one to share that with?

Reviewed in Canada on February 11, 2022

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I had had this book recommended to me and it seemed just the sort of story that I would like with a fantastical/historical bent with a hint of darkness and romance: it had all of the elements of a good read. And I am pleased to say that it did not disappoint.

Addie LaRue wants a life with more than the proposed husband with whom she is paired; she does not want to live in a village and pursue a life of drudgery but wants to explore the world and be stimulated. However, in 18th century rural France, there is not much scope for a woman of her birth to do anything but be a wife and mother. Not that there is anything wrong with this but for Addie, its limitations in her eyes make her despair and so, in an ill-judged (or well-judged, depending on how you see it) meeting with the devil, she makes a deal whereby she can live forever but no-one will remember her - she instantly fades from their memory once she is out of their sight.

Liberating, yes? Well, in one sense, it must be great to feel invisible and to live a life on the periphery where everything feels new. However, Addie soon learns that this is a lonely existence where intimacies shared one evening are forgotten by the morning and whilst, she can return to the same places and meet the same people and hold their shared experiences close to her heart, she is never recognised; the closeness is never remembered; her life is ineffectual.

That is until she encounters Henry who does remember her and she gets to sample again the delight of having someone know her again; someone who is not the devil who visits her every year, as she could end this life and find peace from ignominy as long as she is prepared to give the deal-making devil, known to Addie as Luc, her eternal soul.

I really liked this book. The devil is beguiling, sensual and an ephemeral "bad boy" who ticks all of the boxes for "attractive male who really should be avoided but of whom it is difficult to steer clear". Addie is a strong female character who loves powerfully and with loyalty and following the ripples that she makes throughout history add an extra entertaining layer.

Imaginative and well-plotted, I would recommend this.

2 people found this helpful

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Laraine

4 1/2 star. An intriguing story.

Reviewed in Canada on July 27, 2021

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4 1/2 star read. This was a very interesting and unique book. Addie LaRue is a young girl and lived in a village in France in 1714. Her parents arrange a marriage for her and she doesn't want to marry the man. She makes a deal with the devil (one of the old gods) for her freedom and finds out later that the devil is in the details. The deal she made has parameters that she never imagined and she finds a way of surviving and being forgotten. Until she meets a man, Henry, who she falls in love with. And he remembers her. This was such an intriguing story and I enjoyed it very much.

3 people found this helpful

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Alli H

Damaged book jacket

Reviewed in Canada on January 28, 2021

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Haven't actually read the book yet. Just arrived today and the condition of the book jacket is horrible. Obviously in this condition before sending because the box it came in wasn't damaged. I expected better for the cost.

6 people found this helpful

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Katie

Hollow

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2020

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Have you ever gone to a tourist trap, thinking “I’m finally going to see this place”, only to get there a find out that there’s really nothing to see? You get there, you look over a guardrail at the place you thought you’d be able to explore and experience, only to find that you can only look at it from a distance, and then there’s nothing else to do but get back in your car and go home.
That is the emotional equivalent of reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
I am so very disappointed in this book. I was so stoked about the premise, and I thought it’d be dark and gritty and cool and we’d get a complex plot with a sprinkle of a love story.
But, instead, it was a 300 year slog through the endless emotional cycle of regret and loneliness of a 300 year old girl, her emotionally manipulative demon lover, and her clinically depressed, unbearably boring boyfriend. I could not get through it fast enough.
This entire book feels like a missed opportunity. Instead of going from beginning to end, letting time and consequence shape this character, we skate over the tiny detail of our Addie’s immortality by jumping back and forth along the timeline. And I know Victoria Schwab loooves jumping timelines. It’s her jam, and that’s fine, when it’s done well and with purpose. In this book, they’re literally spoilers, even going as far as using the phrase, “Later, she will learn...” Oh, good, then there’s no point in telling this story? Great. Glad I’m here. The timeline jumps not only ruin any tension in the story due to their poor timing, they serve as a mere acknowledgement of the passing of time, and gives us a rushed, topical rundown of the historical events the character has lived through that, while they shape the entire foundation of the world Addie lives in, don’t seem to affect her at all.
The other problem is Addie. She is a miserable, honestly pretty whiny, weirdly stubborn character from start to finish, and the author really grinds that misery in at every opportunity. It’s hard to follow her around and not be bored with her, “I’m lonely and sad all the time, but I’m also pointlessly stubborn about staying that way” narrative.
I could go on, but I’ll just say, I’m disappointed and I wanted it to be better.

1,541 people found this helpful

Anamelia Regan (EldritchFae)

Such a beautiful and emotive book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2020

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This book was absolutely incredible. I am a fan of Schwab’s other work, so I was extremely excited about ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’, especially as Schwab has talked on multiple occasions about it being a book that really means a lot to her. I went in with high expectations and yet somehow it exceeded every one of them. I absolutely adored every moment of this book - it took me through such a range of emotions and utterly broke my heart. It kept me guessing until the end, as I never truly knew exactly what was going to happen next, despite my constant guessing. This book is beautiful, the characters are incredible and this is definitely one of the most compelling books I have ever read.

This is a very character driven book, and Addie as a character is wonderful, because she is flawed. She spends her life forgotten, and so she has picked up a lot of bad habits in order to survive. I really liked the fact that Addie is not perfect, because she is a reflection of human existence. She has gone through so much and yet never loses her love for art, or for life. She has goes through the best and worst of human existence, and still finds joy in the world. She finds something new, and I feel like we all need a bit of Addie in our lives to remind us that joy can be found in the strangest of places. There are so many incredible characters in this book, predominately Henry the person who remembers her and Luc, the devil who cursed her. But each person that Addie meets adds a new layer to the story, and a new outlook and insight into this world. Each chapter was a new exploration, a new idea, explored through encounters with the people surrounding Addie.

The plot seems like a simple ‘person sold their soul to the devil to live forever’ kind of story, but it is so much more than that. There is so much to this book, but it is best left discovered in your own time. This book starts slow, in that it slowly pulls you into its rhythm, flipping backwards and forwards in time between events that all build upon each other. This creates the feeling that it’s weaving you into the story, dropping hints here and there until you’re so caught up in what will happen next that you can’t think of much else and don’t want to stop reading. This is definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time, and keeps haunting my thoughts.

‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ is thought provoking, and brings up a lot of thoughts about the nature of existence and what it means to live. Can we really live without making a mark on the world, or is it the impression we have on others that makes us real? I wasn’t expecting this book to raise a lot of philosophical questions, and make me rethink the nature of existence, relationship with art and the meaning of life but it did! It made me think a lot about my own insecurities about life, being forgotten and the nature of art and reality. I’m sure a lot of readers won’t be quite so plagued by these thoughts but they were such an important part of the book in my opinion and they have left an impression on me in the most interesting way! There’s also such a focus on art in the book, which ties the whole thing together in such a wonderful way. There was such a love of art that came across in the pages, it felt like a love letter to creativity at times, which I found really inspiring.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. It was beautiful, lyrical, incredibly written and haunting. It took me through such a range of emotions, and left me wanting more. The characters were fantastic, the story was gripping and it lived up to and then exceeded every one of my hopes. Schwab is a master storyteller and this is her best book to date. This book is special, fully of joy and I hope everyone who reads it loves it as much as I do.

55 people found this helpful

gonewalkabout

Monotonous

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020

Verified Purchase

Dragging pace and repetitive, I feel like I’ve been reading this book for 300 years— and I haven’t quite struggled to the halfway point! Add an immature protagonist who never seems to learn anything or grow spiritually and a few lackluster love interests and you have the recipe for a boring, go nowhere read that leaves you scratching your head. It is very rare for me to give up on a book, but when you find yourself rooting for the devil to end the misery of continuing the story, it’s time to slam the cover closed!

689 people found this helpful

Heloisa M

Livro lindo, em estado perfeito, história incrível!

Reviewed in Brazil on November 19, 2020

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Vale muitoo a pena, essa edição é linda, capa aveludada e com toques metálicos e a escrita da V.E. Schwab é contagiante, recomendo demais!

68 people found this helpful

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Samantha VB

Read with tissues!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book has been three days of emotional turmoil for me. I've loved it, I've hated it, I've been excited by it, furious at it, bored stiff and completely captivated! And finally, utterly and totally heartbroken.

(A quick side note about the very poor editing. So many words missing, or extra words that I noticed. And continuity errors! Just one example is that she drapes her coat over a kitchen chair, but later mentions that there are no kitchen chairs! Also, at one point she's talking with someone in the kitchen, then in the next sentence she stands from the bed??? It drove me mad!!!)

I love Addie LaRue. I am awestruck at the resilience and strength she has. If I were her, I'd have surrendered my soul to the devil on the first night is Paris. She has a hunger to live and be free that is intoxicating. And she's not the only character that I loved. Even the fleeting ones were deep and lovable.

The writing is so beautiful. I love Schwab's style! She pulls you into the scene and it's so easy to feel everything the characters are feeling. It's an emersive experience.

Plot is where the book stumbles a little for me. The main plot, Addie making a deal with a God for her soul and the other main plot points (which I won't spoil), is wonderful!!! I loved every second. But there were far, far too many bits in between. I think this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter and you'd still get the entire experience without the parts that drag and make you wonder why everyone is saying such wonderful things about this book!!

But you get past those parts, the main plot takes over and... I shattered. I completely shattered, I'm still crying, I may be crying for a while. It's absolutely devistating and yet stunningly beautiful. I will, happily, read this book again in a few year and still cry my eyes out! At least the second time I'll know to have tissues at the ready!

I have a couple more of the authors books on my shelf, unread, and I'm really looking forward to them now!

26 people found this helpful

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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